The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 2017 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. Set at the end of the Zelda timeline, the player controls an amnesiac Link as he sets out to save Princess Zelda and prevent Calamity Ganon from destroying the world. Players explore the open world of Hyrule while they collect items and complete objectives such as puzzles or side quests. Breath of the Wild's world is unstructured and encourages exploration and experimentation; the story can be completed in a nonlinear fashion.
Development lasted five years, commencing immediately after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in 2011. Led by director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo sought to rethink Zelda's conventions and introduced elements such as detailed chemistry and physics engines. The designers drew inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus (2005) and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011). Monolith Soft, known for their work on the open-world Xenoblade Chronicles series, assisted in designing landscapes and topography.
Breath of the Wild was first planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U exclusive. It was eventually released on March 3, 2017, as a launch game for the Switch and the final Nintendo game for the Wii U. It received acclaim and won numerous Game of the Year accolades. Critics praised its open-ended gameplay, open-world design, and attention to detail, though some criticized its technical performance. It is the best-selling Zelda game and one of the best-selling video games of all time, with 32.85 million copies sold by 2023.
Breath of the Wild is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Journalists described it as a landmark in open-world design for its emphasis on experimentation, physics-based sandbox, and emergent gameplay. Numerous developers cited Breath of the Wild as inspiration, and it is a popular point of comparison among open-world games. A spin-off, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, was released in 2020 while a sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, was released in 2023.
